Ludwig von Koopa (known as Kooky von Koopa in the cartoons) is the oldest Koopaling and was Bowser's second-in-command until Bowser Jr. came along. Like the other Koopalings, not much of Ludwig's personality has been revealed, though it is known that he is highly intelligent and somewhat arrogant and is said to be the cruelest of all the Koopalings.
Physical Appearance
Like the other Koopalings, Ludwig has yellow and tan skin and a green head. He also has a four-ribbed, padded stomach and padded feet. His facial features are defined, having shaped cheeks, a high nose, a low jaw, and deeply curved lips; his features are most similar to Roy's, although he is unique in having one, beaver-like tooth in the upper center of his snout. He has a round head and small, circular eyes, like Morton. Ludwig is similar in height to most other Koopalings; his body is like a wider version of Larry's. Ludwig is best known to have large, wild, blue hair; aside from slight color differentiation his hairstyle is the same as Flurrie's. He also has small, blue eyebrows. Ludwig's shell was originally green, but is now blue with light orange rings surrounding the multiple, short spikes. Ludwig wears the same metal, spiked cuffs the other Koopalings.
Personality and Traits
Ludwig is the oldest and strongest of the Koopalings, and possibly the smartest and most eloquent as well. His exact age is unknown, but he is said to be adult-like, conceited and cruel[2]. Nevertheless, he is very much into culture: he likes listening to classical music and composes his own "Koopa Symphonies" which, according to the comics and adventure books, are terrible. He was also implied to have been partially deaf at one point (which may have explained why his music was bad), as when Mario caused an explosion that "shook something loose in [Ludwig's] brain" in Pipe Down! he claimed he could finally hear, and presumably discovered how bad his music was as a result; whether he still chooses to compose music or not is unknown. Ludwig is possibly the most intelligent of his siblings, though outside of the robots he created in Yoshi's Safari, he doesn't seem to be as much an inventor as his younger brother Iggy. He also seems to be into horror, as he had a horror-themed hotel in Hotel Mario. His actions in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga also suggests that he gets enraged when the Mario Bros. ignore him. He was also shown to be somewhat treacherous, as evidenced by his leaving without Bowser Jr. shortly after Morton's defeat, which also resulted in Bowser Jr. being forced to allow Mario onto his airship a second time when attempting to reboard the airship.
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Ludwig's name was changed into Kooky von Koopa, and was portrayed as a stereotypical mad scientist, whose main purpose was to invent new doomsday weapons and gadgets for his father. He would commonly burst out into maniacal laughter or raise his voice by shouting in the middle of talking and seemed to be very aggressive towards the Mario Bros. Kooky didn't also care much about his hygiene; he never washed or combed his hair.
Powers and Abilities
Ludwig is usually portrayed as the most talented and powerful of the Koopalings. In Super Mario Bros. 3, Ludwig shared his attack pattern with Roy; Ludwig could fire projectiles from his Magic Scepter, pound the ground to stun the Mario Bros., and retreat in his shell for both defensive and offensive purposes. He was given a completely unique attack pattern in Super Mario World, which none of the other Koopalings shared; Ludwig could spit three fireballs in a row (thus making him the first Koopaling to have learned the ability to breath fire) and spin around the room in his shell, after which he could perform a long jump to the other side of the room. Ludwig was given even more new powers in Hotel Mario: he can fire electricity from his hands and teleport in a flash of lightning. In Superstar Saga, Ludwig retained his previous abilities of breathing fire (though not as furiously as the previous time) and spinning around in his shell, but also learned the new ability of spinning like a tornado to attack the Mario bros., which was also done by his brother Iggy. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Ludwig learned even more new abilities. He can either shoot five fireballs a time or fire a single fireball with homing capabilities, and has even mastered the ability of Flutter Jumping better than the Yoshis themselves, being able to stay in the air for several seconds. His latest appearance in New Super Mario Bros. 2 has him also expanding on these abilities, utilizing the flutter jump to grab a chain, and then move between the two, and in addition, he can also increase his rate of fire when he needs to.